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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366265">Blurred Foils</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkeyMindScream/pseuds/MonkeyMindScream'>MonkeyMindScream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(no promises who'll bite it granted all I'm saying is the numbers match up), Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hordak has the power of God and anime on his side now, I crave Hordak experiencing both fun misadventures but also soul-crushing self-doubt/loathing, I'm kidding he's still one of the most unlucky SOBs in this whole entire series, Roleswap, Sort Of, about as much character death as canon, and this AU accommodates both, but y'know how it is, canon-typical cult shenanigans, canon-typical emotional trauma, inspired by hordakin's She-Ra!Hordak AU on tumblr, really it's more like Hordak trips and lands in Adora's destiny before she can get to it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:46:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366265</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkeyMindScream/pseuds/MonkeyMindScream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It would seem Light Hope made a small miscalculation. Years ago, she pulled an infant descendant of the First Ones to Etheria to act as the next She-Ra. And yet it isn't the child who takes up the Sword of Protection.</p><p>It's the despot who first found her alone in a field.</p><p>Unorthodox, most definitely, but Etheria will have to make do.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra, Bow/Glimmer, Hordak/Entrapta, I WILL add more to this list later and that is a threat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blurred Foils</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Should I be working on other, previously started projects right now? Yep. Should I probably NOT have started another intensely self-indulgent, multi-chapter AU when I'm already very involved with one already? Yep. Am I going to disregard all of that and move forward with my madness anyway?</p><p>Yep.</p><p>This is my first time writing for She-Ra, so if my portrayal of the characters feel weak or a bit off that's why. Still figuring out how to write them here.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One of Hordak’s (many) regrettable short-comings was how quickly his body became worn down. His brothers could generally operate for up to forty-eight hours before requiring rest. Hordak could only make it twenty-four, and his functionality started dipping drastically during the final stretch. Provided his deteriorating condition managed to <em>make it</em> to the final stretch, of course. History suggested he would end up passing out some time long before that point.</p><p>Moreover, his brothers only required perhaps an hour (if that) to regain their energy; Hordak required roughly six. To feel genuinely rested, at least, he could make due on less if he had to, which he made every effort to. Hopeless endeavor or not, he at least <em>tried</em> to train his body to function on a less needlessly inflated sleep requirement. So far, the best he’d managed was about four hours. Any less and his fainting spells became frequent and tedious.</p><p>The absolute <em>only</em> thing he liked about Etherians was that their required sleep-schedules matched up reasonably enough with his. He was blessedly spared from having to hide his need to rest since it was considered “normal” for them. No one so much as batted an eye if he turned in after a mere nineteen hours, or if he slept over four times the length of what he ought to sleep.</p><p>All else aside, the time Hordak was required to rest was still very much <em>required</em>, over-inflated or not. Being sabotaged by errant thoughts whispering at him during REM was, therefore, an utterly infuriating affair.</p><hr/><p>He was in a forest. Up ahead, just through the trees, he could see a clearing. Something waited at its center.</p><p>
  <em>…b - l - nce…</em>
</p><p>A voice. His ears twitched. Had it come from in front of him? Or had it just been the lonely ghost of a thought left to echo through his head? His mind felt so empty. He couldn’t focus.</p><p>He moved towards the clearing. The light in the forest wasn’t behaving like it should; it didn’t come from any particular source. It just existed around him, becoming more all-encompassing the further he moved forward.</p><p>
  <em>…m - st - eek - a - h - ro…</em>
</p><p>He could almost make out what waited for him in the clearing up ahead. It strangely wasn’t the light obstructing his ability to see it, it was more as though his brain refused to unscramble the image his eyes provided. But it wouldn’t matter soon, he was almost close enough where he could start to make sense of it. If he could just make it past the final curtain of trees—</p><p>
  <em>a - d - ra– …h – h - rda –? </em>
</p><p>A great flash, a sense of something… of <em>something</em>, and he woke up with a sharp intake of air.</p><p>He was forced to muscle through a moment of disorientation. His heart was beating far too hard. It reminded him of how it felt to wake after falling in a dream – startling and abrupt. Not to mention (in this case) unwarranted. Nothing had happened to prompt an awakening of this sort.</p><p>He shifted on his bunk slightly, angling himself to see the clock somewhere over his shoulder. (Imp slept curled into a ball next to his head, snoring quietly and ultimately none the wiser.) Angry red digits proclaimed <em>2:19</em>. Hordak’s fists clenched involuntarily, and with a growl he flopped back to his original position.</p><p>He’d only been asleep for an hour. He wouldn’t be able to last long on that. He’d have to try to fall back asleep.</p><p>The worst part, the truly blood-boiling aspect of it all, was that this was not the first time his necessary sleep had been interrupted by this inanity. And, if things followed the trend of the last two weeks, it wouldn’t even be the last time <em>this night</em>.</p><p>Perhaps Imp sensed his frustration even through his own unconsciousness; perhaps Imp was just having a less-than-desirable dream himself. Whatever the reason, he shifted so that his forehead softly pressed against Hordak’s.</p><p>Hordak paused, then sighed. Tried to burrow further into his bunk. Tried to go back to sleep.</p><p>Tried to ignore the memory of a voice originating from nowhere attempting to speak to him.</p><hr/><p>Shadow Weaver arrived to give her report later that day, per the norm. Hordak (who had managed a cumulative two and a half hours’ sleep) struggled to actually retain the information she gave him.</p><p>Imp sat perched next to him on the arm of his throne, giving Shadow Weaver a sour look. While <em>Hordak</em> understood the necessity of listening to her reports, <em>Imp</em> seemed to be of the mind that life overall would be infinitely better if she existed quite literally anywhere but in front of them. Or beside them, or behind, or really anywhere they could see or hear her. Hordak absently rubbed the back of his finger under Imp’s chin to interrupt his glare, and tried to focus on the – likely very <em>important</em> – things Shadow Weaver was telling him.</p><p>Frankly, he wasn’t doing well. His mind kept drifting.</p><p>He had been dreaming about a forest for little over two weeks. The dreams’ script was something he’d since learned by heart: He walked towards a clearing and something he couldn’t discern, only to be thwarted at the last second. The setting was not quite so forthcoming – a <em>forest</em> yes, fine, but <em>which</em> forest?</p><p>The Whispering Woods seemed the obvious assumption, if only because… well. They were <em>woods</em>. And in the dream, he’d heard a fair amount of<em> whispering</em>. Granted, analyzing <em>why </em>he might be dreaming of the Whispering Woods revealed enough logistical holes to almost make the theory collapse in on itself. He had only ever fleetingly been inside the Wood, and held no particular connection to it apart from a desire cross troops through it to conquer Bright Moon. He was soundly unable to think of where else the dreams might be taking place, however, so he marked it down with tentative likelihood.</p><p>Being distracted from sleep was bad enough, but over the last few days he’d started hearing whispers whilst definitively <em>awake</em>. Familiar, sourceless whispers.</p><p>They were never persistent. Faint sound, words soft as a breath, then nothing. Frequently he was able to convince himself he hadn’t heard anything at all, he was merely overtired. But, without fail, he would always pause and turn towards where he guessed they’d come from.</p><p>(Which was <em>always</em>, he’d realize much later, in the direction of the Whispering Woods.)</p><p>“–electing a new Force Captain shortly,” he heard Shadow Weaver say, and his attention was haltingly pulled back to her. “I’ve chosen my ward, Adora. She has excelled in all her training exercises as well as—”</p><p>Hordak had an urge to roll his eyes which he subsequently ignored, deeming it beneath him. He was acutely aware of Shadow Weaver’s favoritism towards her <em>Adora</em> (partially thanks to Imp’s reports, partially thanks to her own verbose implication). As such, her electing the child a Force Captain was hardly surprising. Quite the contrary, he’d go so far as to classify it as <em>predictable</em>, but then Etherians usually were.</p><p>
  <em>…h - rd - k…</em>
</p><p>He did not turn this time. He did not look towards his best assumption of where the whisper had come from. He knew there would be no one there. But his ears twitched. The one closest to the noise angled itself, unbidden, slightly further in its direction. There was no following sound, save for the rising of his heartbeat.</p><p>“Send the new Force Captain to me after you’ve appointed her,” he said suddenly.</p><p>Shadow Weaver’s body language suggested surprise. Imp looked up at him.</p><p>“Of- of course my lord,” Shadow Weaver said, regathering herself smoothly. “Though, if I may ask—?”</p><p>“I have a task I will require some assistance with,” Hordak said shortly. “Considering the praise you’ve heaped on her, I suspect the new Captain will be the best candidate for it.”</p><p>He hadn’t particularly expected Shadow Weaver to be too fussed with the details. Quite honestly, he’d assumed she would be delighted that he was showing an interest in her “work.” Having him indirectly acknowledge her efforts by requesting a personal audience with the Force Captain she’d handpicked ought to have pleased her tremendously.</p><p>Instead, she stood very still. “With permission, my lord, what is the task?”</p><p>“None of your concern,” he said, expression twisting, fangs pleading to be bared. “Just do as I ask.”</p><p>Imp was glancing between him and Shadow Weaver eagerly. Hordak sometimes suspected the only reason he performed his spying duties as diligently as he did was out of the hope he’d get to watch someone be berated. Seeing it happen to someone he had a history of contention with was a special treat in his eyes.</p><p>Unfortunately for Imp, Shadow Weaver offered no further reason to be berated. There was a second’s hesitation more, and then she inclined her head calmly. “At once, my lord.”</p><p>“Do you have anything else to report?” (he asked as though he had the slightest idea what she’d <em>already</em> reported this meeting.)</p><p>“No, my lord, that would be all.”</p><p>“Go then.”</p><p>She inclined her head again briefly, then turned and left the room.</p><p>Imp watched her go, expression mixed (was he happy to see the back of her? yes. Was he disappointed she hadn’t been reamed out? also yes), before looking back to him.</p><p><em>“I have a task I will require some assistance with,”</em> he replayed, head cocked questioningly to the side.</p><p>Hordak offered a short nod, running an absentminded hand through Imp’s hair, but didn’t elaborate.</p><p>There was something going on here. Something that, as far as he could guess, was somehow tied to the Whispering Woods. Something that, more pressingly, was affecting his ability to function and properly do his job. He wasn’t about to waste resources by leading a legion of Horde soldiers into the Whispering Woods based on nothing more than dreams and phantom whispers. But he also wasn’t stupid enough to go traipsing into the Woods alone. As such, he required a partner of sorts.</p><p>Telling Shadow Weaver that her ward was the best candidate for the job had been a hollow, ironic lie. Hordak didn’t hold any particular faith in any of his Force Captains, old or new. This girl of Shadow Weaver’s would do just as well as any of the others. Anyway, Shadow Weaver was already planning to talk to her. All this meant was he was spared the trouble of going “send up a Force Captain, <em>any</em> Force Captain” and having to deal with whatever suspicions might arise from his lack of specificity.</p><p>If nothing else, he supposed he’d get to see firsthand if all of Shadow Weaver’s unsubtle bragging was warranted or not.</p><hr/><p>Force Captain Adora was not particularly impressive at first glance, though there was a definite air of familiarity about her that Hordak couldn’t quite put his finger on. He brushed it off as likely having seen her in the halls at some point. Or perhaps she simply had an exceedingly generic face. It didn’t really matter either way.</p><p>She came to a stop in front of his throne, standing at attention. She did an admirable job of hiding her nerves, all things considered. But she stood just a little <em>too</em> straight, looked at him through eyes that were a little <em>too</em> wide for her to be feeling at ease with the situation. He wondered if Shadow Weaver had given her any kind of indication that she was to be promoted. If she had, she certainly would’ve had no way to warn her that she’d be meeting with <em>him</em> shortly after it was official, so he supposed nerves were understandable enough. And if she hadn’t, then this was something of a double blow, wasn’t it?</p><p>Imp still sat beside him, observing Adora closely with his face scrunched in consideration. He hadn’t dealt with this one much, then. Imp either knew people and disliked them, or didn’t know them and was looking for something to dislike. Hordak supposed Adora had that going for her, at least; the only people Imp really “knew” were trouble-makers and insurgents.</p><p>“Lord Hordak,” she addressed, saluting. “You wished to speak with me?”</p><p>He watched her silently for a few more seconds. There were a surprising amount of things that could be gleaned from a person when they were being made to wait whilst already nervous. Adora didn’t seem particularly keen on giving him much, however, instead remaining frozen in her professionalism.</p><p>He supposed he could respect that. Mostly he just found himself thinking, ‘this is <em>it?’ </em>Shadow Weaver had led him to expect… <em>more</em>.</p><p>“Yes,” he said finally. “There is something I wish to investigate in the Whispering Woods. You will accompany me there and act as my back-up.”</p><p>Her eyes got, miraculously, even bigger. “The Whispering Woods?” she repeated. To her credit, her voice was even, if surprised. “Is this for an upcoming attack, sir? Will we be marching soon?”</p><p>He offered her a glare. “Did I grant you permission to ask questions, Force Captain?” he asked lowly.</p><p><em>Now</em> she was visibly nervous, and began stuttering an apology. Thoroughly uninterested in listening to it, he snapped, “Go prepare a skiff. We’re leaving now.”</p><p>She muttered something under her breath (likely “yes sir” or some such similar thing) and hastily made her way from the room. Imp snickered as he watched her go. The jury was still out on whether he’d found anything specific to dislike about her yet, but to date he had never yet passed up the opportunity to laugh at someone else’s missteps.</p><p>“Keep surveillance while I’m away,” Hordak instructed, rising from his seat and moving towards the door. “I’ll be back soon.”</p><p>Imp chittered in response, hopping from the throne and scampering to an open vent to begin his rounds.</p><hr/><p>Well that definitely could’ve gone <em>better</em>…</p><p>Adora walked quickly down the corridor with her face in her hands. Five minutes as Force Captain and she’d already managed to speak out of turn with <em>Lord Hordak </em>himself. She wondered if that was a record. She wondered what might’ve happened to whoever’d set the previous record.</p><p>She wished Catra had been there. If Catra had been there, she’d have started making fun of her the second they were out of earshot. And then Adora would’ve been deeply embarrassed and groaned at her to let it go, and the situation would’ve felt a million times less serious. She wouldn’t be up to her neck in anxiety, she’d be too busy rolling her eyes.</p><p>She tried to shift her focus to getting the job done. Catra had swore she’d wait up for her until she was done with whatever Hordak’s “task” was, and then made <em>her </em>swear she’d tell her absolutely everything afterward. At least she had the comfort of knowing she’d feel better <em>later</em>.</p><p>Adora acquired a skiff key from one of the senior officers before moving to prepare the transport. Another pang for Catra; she practically drooled whenever she saw one of these. She’d always wanted to drive one. Maybe if she was able to redeem herself to Lord Hordak and she didn’t feel like she was walking on wafer-thin ice, she’d… <em>borrow</em> a skiff and take Catra on a ride. Maybe.</p><p>“Is everything ready, Force Captain?”</p><p>Adora jumped and spun to face Lord Hordak, who had somehow materialized behind her without her noticing. Considering she’d just been tentatively plotting to take a piece of equipment without permission, his timing was more than enough to put her on edge. She had a sudden, irrational fear he could see her thoughts.</p><p>She batted the idea away irritably as she saluted. Not only was it improbable and <em>ridiculous</em>, it was honestly too unfair to be real. It was one thing for a superior to punish people for irresponsible or disrespectful actions, but being able to monitor their <em>thoughts </em>seemed like <em>way </em>too much power in Adora’s opinion.</p><p>“Yes sir,” she said, hoping she didn’t somehow look shifty. “Whenever you’re ready.”</p><p>He gave a curt nod before climbing aboard the skiff, and she followed behind moments later.</p><hr/><p>Glimmer was <em>annoyed</em>.</p><p>Y’know what, scratch that actually, she was more than annoyed. She was <em>a lot </em>more than annoyed. She was downright <em>ticked</em>.</p><p>‘Be a commander, Glimmer, manage the troops, watch over these super out-of-the-way spots and protect them from Horde activity. Oh, sorry, did I say <em>protect?</em> I meant run away at the first sign of danger so we lose all our territory to the Horde. And if you <em>do </em>try to fight back, I’ll get completely, unreasonably angry and ground you in front of everybody.’</p><p>What? Was? The? Point? Of? Making? Her? A? Commander? If? She? Wasn’t? Allowed? To? <em>Fight??</em></p><p>Glimmer got that her and her mom had different ways of doing things. And – no matter what her mom might<em> think </em>– she even got that there were times where <em>her</em> way of doing things wasn’t the <em>best</em> way. But was it so much to ask for her mom to realize that about <em>herself?</em></p><p>“I’m not asking for the <em>moon</em> here!” she ranted as Bow casually tidied up below her bed. “All I’m looking for is a little—” she gesticulated wildly, trying to pull out the right words for the occasion, “—<em>cooperation? </em>Some <em>acknowledgement?</em> Maybe a ‘hey Glimmer, you might actually have a point’ every once and a while?!”</p><p>She made a cross between a growl and a groan, and flopped backwards onto her bed.</p><p>“She’s probably just worried,” Bow said, tucking a flyaway scarf into a drawer.</p><p>“Well she <em>shouldn’t</em> be!” Glimmer bit back forcefully. “I’m more than capable of handling myself!”</p><p>He looked over his shoulder, giving her a doubtful look. “I dunno, your powers can sometimes be a littllllle…” He trailed off, stretching for the right word. At least until he noticed her glaring down at him from her bed, at which point his mouth promptly clapped shut.</p><p>“It’s probably just a Mom-thing,” he corrected, offering a sheepish smile.</p><p>Another growl-groan as she grabbed her pillow and pressed it on top of her face.</p><p>There was a pause, and then she heard the stairs to her bed being climbed. Shortly after, she felt weight dip the bed to her left. “But hey, I get it, you wanna prove yourself to your mom.”</p><p>The aggravated noise she made was muffled by her pillow.</p><p>Sounding more pleased than she appreciated given the situation, he asked, “Aren’t you lucky you’ve got me, then?”</p><p>…okay, fine. He had her attention. Grumpily, she pulled her pillow down just enough to peep over its edge at him.</p><p>Beaming, he presented his trackerpad to her. “Check <em>this</em> out!”</p><p>She sat up as she accepted the pad, pillow falling to her lap. Was she supposed to see something other than a grid and a persistent blip?</p><p>“What am I supposed to be ‘checking out’ here, Bow?” she asked, bemused and vaguely unimpressed.</p><p>“I detected some First Ones’ tech in the Whispering Woods!” he exclaimed, clearly pleased. “And the readings are <em>off the scale</em>. You find this and bring it back? Your mom’ll hit the <em>roof</em>.” He paused, then corrected, “In the good way, not the… ‘<em>Glimmah! You’ve disobeyed my orders and been completely reckless again!’</em> –way she usually does.”</p><p>Glimmer stared at the trackerpad with renewed interest. For a second, anyway, until reality came back around to dump on her day.</p><p>“I can’t,” she groaned passing the pad back to Bow. “I’m <em>grounded</em>. If I go out and <em>don’t</em> find it I’ll be in <em>so </em>much trouble—”</p><p>“We can go after everyone’s asleep,” Bow offered. “If we find it, awesome! If not, we just have to be back before sunrise and no one would ever have to know.”</p><p>Glimmer looked at him. She looked back down to the trackerpad.</p><p>Her brow furrowed.</p><p>No one would ever have to know.</p><hr/><p>The forest floor sailed beneath the skiff, turning into a green-brown blur. The trees darted past, only revealing what waited beyond them in quick flashes. Which was perhaps not particularly helpful when trying to scan for clearings and whatever mystery items might be within them.</p><p>This was, admittedly, not the most well-thought-out of plans Hordak had ever come up with. Likely because he hadn’t thought the plan out beyond the absolute bare-minimum. Frankly, searching on foot might have suited this task better. Yet another drawback of being unable to properly sleep: It made him deplorably inclined to act on the first idea that came to him. Regardless, he was already in the middle of his “plan” (such as it was), so bare-minimum or not it would have to do.</p><p>…and at any rate, he didn’t suspect he would have lasted long searching on foot. The skiff was necessary to ensure he didn’t collapse in the middle of nowhere, in front of someone he barely knew and didn’t particularly trust.</p><p>Force Captain Adora had been instructed to steer as he searched, and alert him if she noticed anything out of the ordinary. So far, she hadn’t breathed a word. Hordak glanced over to her. Her eyes were locked on the path ahead of them, and had likely been so since they entered the Wood. While he appreciated the level of seriousness of which she took making sure they didn’t crash, the path immediately ahead of them was clear. The trees, though numerous, were not so tightly packed that it made maneuvering the skiff difficult. He hadn’t seen anything resembling what he was looking for and was becoming frustrated, and he could desperately use a second pair of eyes.</p><p>“Do you see anything unusual?” he prompted, trying to direct her attention to other parts of the Woods besides what was dead ahead of her. He would privately admit that “unusual” was an unhelpfully broad term, but Shadow Weaver had gone on and <em>on</em> about how intelligent the girl was. She ought to be able to infer what he meant (specifically, literally anything that wasn’t <em>undergrowth</em> or more <em>trees)</em>.</p><p>Adora blinked hard as she turned to look at him, taken off-guard, before rotating her head in a quick scan. “No sir, nothing y—”</p><p>And then she gasped. His head snapped in the direction she was looking, eyes widening.</p><p>She had returned her gaze frontward again. The path that had been perfectly clear not a second ago (he <em>knew</em>, he’d <em>seen</em>) now had a massive tree sitting smack in the middle of it.</p><p>Adora reflexively jerked the controls to the side, but they were already too close and there was nowhere left for the skiff to go. The side of it smashed into the tree they were trying to avoid, and – now knocked off-kilter – was sent spiraling into the trees blocking the way they had attempted to escape. There was a series of worryingly loud cracking and shattering sounds (Hordak held up his arms to protect his face from the branches and vines whipping at it), and then suddenly all he knew was the sensation of freefall.</p><p>There were a few empty, confusing seconds, and then every last ounce of breath he had was knocked out of him, and a white-noise of pain enveloped his body.</p><p>He hadn’t blacked out, not quite, it was more that his system was rendered unusable as it recalibrated. To that end, though he was <em>aware</em> of the sounds occurring near him, he wasn’t able to immediately make sense of them. So he stared at nothing, listening to the rapidly approaching noises and waiting for them to make sense.</p><p>Adora’s face came into view about the same time his comprehension returned to him. She looked worried.</p><p>“–rd Hordak? Sir? Are you alright? Sir, please answer me!”</p><p>He blinked, then haltingly pushed himself upright, growling in pain as he did so. He’d landed flat on his back, apparently, and cracked his head on the ground besides. He grimaced as he tried to stand; the ports in his back were on <em>fire</em>, and by the feel of it something had broken off inside one of them. There was resistance when he tried to move his left arm.</p><p>Adora, he realized, was still babbling at him. “–sososososo<em>so</em> sorry Sir, this is all my fault, I <em>swear</em> that tree came out of nowhere, one second it wasn’t there and then—”</p><p>“<em>Yes,</em> Force Captain,” he interrupted through gritted teeth, “I too possess the ability of <em>sight</em>, I’m aware of that.”</p><p>He’d heard rumors that the Whispering Woods’ trees would move when you weren’t looking. He’d always assumed it was just stories his troops invented to explain how so many of them had gotten lost inside it. He could now unfortunately confirm that it was a very real happenstance.</p><p>He glanced up at the canopy far above them, grasping at a way to orient himself. Somewhere above their heads rested the skiff, hopelessly trapped in the trees’ branches. Not only would it be near impossible to get up to (and furthermore, disentangle) the thing, but even from where he stood beneath it he could tell that it was thoroughly wrecked.</p><p>In summary, they most certainly wouldn’t be using <em>that</em> to get back to the Fright Zone.</p><p>Hordak snarled, frustrated, pained, and exhausted. He snapped his attention back to Adora, who was fretting off to the side. She winced as they made eye-contact.</p><p>“You have a communicator with you, yes?” he confirmed.</p><p>“Oh— um, yeah, of course. Sir.”</p><p>“Good. Signal for someone to send a transport to pick us up.” He glanced back to the skiff still hanging over their heads. “And do it quickly.”</p><p>Adora was already fiddling with the chip pinned to the front of her jacket. “Right away, Sir.”</p><p>Hordak had been on the precipice of being relieved – or at least as close to it as he could get to such considering what a tremendous failure this outing had turned into. He’d be able to start the arduous process of repairing himself sooner rather than later, at least, which given his current state of discomfort was a welcome notion.</p><p>But then “Force Captain Adora to base, requesting pick-up at my coordinates,” was met with nothing but static.</p><p>Adora’s brow scrunched concernedly, and she fiddled with her communicator with renewed agitation. “This is Force Captain Adora contacting base operations,” she repeated. “Requesting pick-up at my coordinates, please respond.”</p><p>Static.</p><p>She gave it a few seconds, clearly hoping the silence was merely a lag, then looked up to him. “I… I think something in the woods is blocking the signal, Sir,” she said. “The message isn’t getting through.” She glanced around suddenly, then pointed up to a nearby tree. “I’m going to see if I can get above whatever’s causing the interference, I’ll be right back—”</p><p>And with that, she trotted away.</p><p>Hordak watched her go with a huff, already predicting failure and trying to concoct an alternative plan. It was then that a flickering in his peripheral dragged his attention to his right.</p><p>A clearing.</p><p>Had that always been there?</p><p>Now that he looked, the section of trees leading towards the clearing looked <em>familiar</em>. And at the clearing’s center…</p><p>Hordak’s heartbeat had become incredibly conspicuous all of a sudden. The point of this entire endeavor had (obviously) been to locate whatever had been plaguing his dreams for the last few week. And, hopefully, do whatever was required to put a stop to them. But here it was, right in front of him, and…</p><p>And now he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.</p><p>He took a tentative, uneven step forward. Then another. Then a third. Until finally his hesitance was gone, his pain was ignored, and he was making steady progress towards the clearing.</p><p>There was light straight ahead of him, preventing him from seeing what waited up ahead. It wasn’t whispers he heard now; it was a sourceless ringing in his ears.</p><p>He made it past the final curtain of trees.</p><p>The light dimmed. At the center of the clearing, engulfed in roots, he could finally make out the shape of a sword.</p><p>Hordak stared at it. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, really, so he wasn’t sure if this revelation was anticlimactic or not. For the most part he just felt… unsure.</p><p>He kept walking.</p><p>The hilt was gold, with some sort of gem embedded at its base. The sword itself was made of a metal he didn’t recognize, if it was indeed made of a metal at all. It was unusual looking, to be sure, but at the same time it didn’t seem particularly special, either.</p><p>He extended his arm as he drew closer, reaching out to touch the hilt.</p><p>A great flash, a sense of <em>something</em>, and suddenly he was no longer in the Whispering Woods.</p><p>He’d been knocked off his feet again. Somehow. Despite having no lingering pain to suggest he’d hit the ground. Glancing around, he saw that the trees that had previously surrounded him had been replaced by crystalline structures, ranging in hues from blue to pink. Small orbs of light hung in midair around him inexplicably.</p><p>Another flash, albeit one smaller than the last, and when it abated a rigid shape stood before him.</p><p>He jolted as he processed the shape in question was a woman, slightly translucent and standing stock-still, and he quickly forced himself to his feet.</p><p>“Who are you?” he demanded roughly. “Where is this?”</p><p>The woman didn’t respond immediately, instead tilting her head, as if considering him.</p><p>Hordak snarled. <em>“Answer me!”</em></p><p>“My name is Light Hope,” the woman said tonelessly. “You are not who has been expected, but… I suppose you shall do regardless.”</p><p>“What? What are you talking about?”</p><p>“Etheria has need of you, Hordak,” the woman, <em>Light Hope</em>, went on, heedless of his questions. “Will you answer its call?”</p><p>An image appeared in front of him abruptly, making him retreat a few paces in surprise. It was the sword he’d seen in the clearing.</p><p>Light Hope went on, “Will you fight for the honor of Greyskull?”</p><p>Hordak blinked, uncomprehending. “‘Fight for the—’? What is ‘Greyskull’?” Then, agitation growing, “What did you mean I’m ‘not who was expected’?”</p><p>Light Hope stared at him, gaze robotic and unmoved. “It does not matter.”</p><p>A final flash, and then, blackness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I couldn't find a place to slip this info into the narrative and I don't know if I ever will, so I'll just say it here: The reason Hordak is having prophecy dreams/hearing whispers despite Adora needing to find the sword in person first is that Hordak's more naturally disposed to picking up on things like that. Perk/downside to having been created to exist within a hivemind.</p><p>Also this should go without saying, but just in case someone's still sitting there going "butbutbut the only reason Adora was chosen to be She-Ra is because she's actually a First One. It makes no sense for Hordak to be able to-"</p><p>Yes, correct. We'll get to that. Not anytime soon, but we'll get to that.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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